Source: Williamson Herald Sports Author: Joe Williams
Expect the irresistible force to meet the immoveable object Friday night when the No. 2- ranked Page High School football team visits No. 4-ranked ranked Nolensville Friday night in an expected postseason preview Williamson County matchup.
The Patriots and Knights have identical 7-0 records and both are 3-0 in Region 6-5A. Both have all stars at the key skill positions of quarterback and running back, and both have a bevy of receivers many teams covet. And both have the kind of players in the trenches that can make things happen.
"It's a big game. Our thing since I've been there has always been week by week, but I don't think there is any denying this week is a little different with what's on the line," Nolensville coach Paul Derrick said Monday night on "The WillCo Sports Power Hour" on WAKM radio. "I just told our kids to enjoy it. They've made it a big game with the way they've played and the way the Page kids have played."
As the featured Game of the Week, the Week 8 contest in Nolensville can be heard live on WAKM AM-950 locally and online at www.wakmworldwide.com. Joe Williams will handle play-by-play, with color analysis from Dana McLendon in the booth and sideline reporting by Charles Pulliam. All three will manage the pre-game show, which kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday.
The teams are near mirror images, and not just in records. Nolensville is led by senior quarterback Coby Walton, who has thrown for more than 1,700 yards and 19 touchdowns this season, with a near 5-to-1 touchdown to interception ratio.
Page's Colin Hurd, last year's regional defensive player of the year at linebacker, has been equally effective, throwing for more than 1,300 yards with 14 touchdowns to just two interceptions while completing more than 65% of his passes.
One of the reasons those numbers are so good is because both are surrounded by talented receivers. Hurd has the option of throwing to sure-handed Max Collins, Boyce Smith or Henry Cason, among others, while Walton's favorite target so far has been the electric Chance Fitzgerald. The senior has collected 40 catches for 734 yds with nine touchdowns. Teammate Dylan Northcutt has 31 catches for 483 yards and six more TDs, while Eric Harper has hauled in 19 catches for 243 yards with a pair of touchdowns.
The running game has helped both high-powered passers succeed. The Patriots' Ethan Cunningham is both a bruiser and big-play back; the Knights' Samson Johnson averages over five yards per carry and has 11 touchdowns on the season so far. Zion Tamaska provides Johnson with relief from the pounding.
Cunningham is coming off his third consecutive 100-yard rushing game and has racked up 624 yards and seven TDs. In Week 6 against Giles County, the junior broke out with 20 carries for 158 yards and three touchdowns – and like Nolensville's Johnson – showed he can catch the ball with five receptions for 92 yards and another score.
With all that offensive power on the field, it will be up to the defenses to determine the outcome of this contest. Neither school has given up 100 points through seven games.
Page's seven victories have come by an average margin of 20 points, while Nolensville is winning by an average of 29. Part of the Knights' larger tally is attributable to the team being +15 in take-aways.
It will be the fifth meeting between the two programs, all Patriot victories.
The last time the budding rivals played, Page squeezed out a 20-15 win in the second round of last year's Class 5A playoffs on the way to reaching the state championship game for the first time. The contest was decided on the last play, with the Knights inches from the upset after scoring twice in the fourth quarter.
It is a finish indelibly burned into the memory of every Nolensville player and coach's mind.
"Last year showed some things we needed to improve on to be able to finish the game," Derrick said. "This is why you get up early in the morning in the winter and work hard in the heat of the summer."
The game is senior night for Nolensville and the festivities will also include WCS GameDay coverage beginning at 5 p.m.